Annual Flowers That Work in Cool Places and Short Seasons
If you live near me on the Palouse in North Idaho/Eastern Washington, you know we have a short growing season. Our frost safe day in the spring is June 1 and we’ve had hard killing frosts in September. August is the only month of the year when there’s no record of snow.
It’s a tough environment for people like us who need flowers.
I’ve killed a lot of flowers over the years and tried many experiments that failed. But, through all of that, I’ve learned some things and I want to share some of my secrets with you.
Calendula is an easy to grow cool season beauty that is also edible, dries well, and can be used in herbal medicine to make skin care products. We make a facial oil out of it that I can’t get enough of
Annual flowers can be divided into two types: tender and hardy. Tender annuals like cosmos and zinnias, love warm weather and collapse at the slightest hint of cold. We can grow those guys on the Palouse, but their time is short and the tiniest dip below freezing at night ends the party.
Hardies, are the secret sauce for success in our region. While we grow plenty of tenders at Melliflora, the hardies absolutely dominate our annual planting blocks. Most of them love a long cool start that fits perfectly with our equally long cool springs. They can all take some frost and even a light snow cover so we can get them going plenty early and not worry about our unpredictable swings back and forth between spring and winter. Some of them even need cool temperatures to germinate giving you an opening to use our challenging weather to your advantage.
Cynoglossum, or Chinese Forget-me-Not is one of my absolute favorite cool season annuals. We plant them every three weeks in succession so they are around from the end of June until the beginning of August. I love them so much that I always plant way more than we can use. Will I learn my lesson and grow fewer this year? Probably not.
As you are planning your garden over the winter, I want to encourage you to focus on hardy annuals to make the most of our short season.
A few of the hardy annuals that we grow on the farm every year include:
Nigella
Orlaya
Ammi (Queen Anne’s Lace)
Cerinthe (Honeywort)
Bupleurem
Larkspur
Calendula
Cynoglossum (Chinese Forget-Me-Not)
Sweet peas
Bells of Ireland
Salvia
Snap dragon
Statice
Stock
Sunflowers
Centaura (Bachelor buttons)
Me in some of the cool season annuals from 2023
Many of these flowers do best if you simply direct seed them right in the garden. No need to wait until the risk of frost has past because they like a cool start. Some won’t germinate if the soil is too warm.
However, you’ll still need to start a few of these guys indoors just because they take some time to get going. But, put your heat mats away. Hardies like it cool. Don’t ruin that for them. When I start seeds in cell trays, most of them begin in my unheated hoop house before making their way outside.
Every year we make a very elaborate seed sowing calendar.
With over 100 varieties in production, planting has to roll out like a well oiled machine so we have a consistent supply of flowers every day through the season.
I’ve done the work so you don’t have to. Here’s a seeding schedule for the 2024 season on the Palouse. If you are in the LC Valley, you can start even earlier.
If you don’t live in our area, you’ll have to look at the germination times on your seed packets and do a little work to see where that lands you on the calendar. Once you’ve figured out one or two, the rest will come easily.
You’ll see that some of these flowers have more than one planting date.
That means that you hold back some of your seed and start some on each of those dates. That is a “succession plan” stretching out the flowering time and making sure they don’t all bloom at once. You’ll be glad you did it!
Most of these seeds require some vernalization. So put them in the freezer for a couple of weeks before planting.
Ammi (Queen Anne’s Lace): Direct seed 4/26 5/05 and 5/15
Bachelor buttons Start indoors under lights 3/22 and 4/19, direct seed on 4/26 pinch when plants get a second set of leaves
Bupleurum direct seed 4/26 5/05 5/15
Bells of Ireland pre-sprout in a plastic bag with a wet piece of paper towel under grow lights. Seeds need light to germinate. Then direct seed 4/19 and 5/10
Calendula direct seed 4/26 and 5/17 pinch when plants get a second set of leaves
Cerinthe start indoors. Soak seeds before planting 4/05 and 4/26 direct seed third wave in May
Cynoglossom (Chinese Forget-me-Not) start indoors. Seeds need darkness to germinate 4/05 and 4/26 direct seed third wave the 1st week of May pinch when plants get a second set of leaves
Larkspur use fresh seed, direct seed late in March, pinch when the plants get a second set of leaves
Nigella direct seed 4/05 and 5/03 and 5/31
Orlaya direct seed 4/05 4/19 5/17
Salvia start indoors 5/03 pinch when plants get a second set of leaves
Snapdragon start indoors 3/22 4/05 and 4/26 pinch when plants get a second set of leaves
Statice start indoors4/05 and 4/26
Stock start indoors 4/19 and 5/10 pinch when plants get a second set of leaves
Sunflowers direct seed 5/03 5/17 We’ve planted sunflowers all the way into June. Pinch branching varieties, do not pinch single stems.
Sweet pea - Direct sow the first week of March. You can also start them in cell trays indoors. When I’ve done that, I’ve waited until the end of March or the 1st week of April. Pinch when plants are about 8” tall
Are you excited about the season? Me too! Let’s get growing.
